# So how'd you get here? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957 "2004-03-07T07:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957/41 "2004-03-08T17:09:25Z")
I wouldn’t have figured I’m such a minority here. I’ve read the Straight Dope column since the mid-80s. Back in the early 90’s my local weekly stopped carrying it, and no amount of begging could get them to carry it again. I had just about given up hope when a few years later another weekly started publication, and they carried the Dope! Ah … a blissful few years reading Cecil’s wisdom. Unfortunately this other weekly closed down back in … oh, around 1998. At that point in time I decided to see if there was a web site. And lo! There it was! I’ve been reading the web site ever since and occasionally reading the message board. Finally, just last year, I decided that I would actually chance making a few posts of my own … ---
**Author:** ![JackaRoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@JackaRoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackaRoe)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957/42 "2004-03-08T18:02:39Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > I think I was trying to find the scientific study about whether to walk or run in therain to keep dry. I think I found the boards immediately. Thats how I found this place too. I read a question on a site called “Ask the Experts” about the walking/running in the rain. I brought it up a luch one day and for the next 3 months my co-workers debated this question. Someone finally pointed out Cecil’s column as his closing argument. I read his column and then started looking at the site. I have been hooked ever since, though Cecil’s answer was not quite accurate. I still am a little too green to handle the great debate forum. I have been shot down every time I tried to post (both times). ---
**Author:** ![maleinblack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@maleinblack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maleinblack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957/43 "2004-03-08T18:13:57Z")
My dear friend **Calm Kiwi** found about this place and couldn’t stop raving about it. Initially I read all the articles and finally gave in and joined the boards. Probably the best thing that ever happened to me online. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957/44 "2004-03-08T18:35:02Z")
I have a friend who, whenever we disagreed about anything factual, would send me a Straight Dope link to prove me wrong. I was proved wrong so many times here (the last straw was the “water down the plughole in the southern hemisphere” question) that I thought I’d better hang around and get myself eddicated. 😃 Said friend is still just a lurker. _(Yes you are, m’dear 😉 )_ ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Fisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Ms.Fisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Fisk)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957/45 "2004-03-08T20:12:13Z")
Funny, I was just thinking about posting this topic. When I used to spend summers in Japan with my parents (both American), my book-wormy-ness took over on the long boring days (and hot, too) and I discovered two of Cecil’s books on my stepmother’s shelf. Read them cover to cover, then made sure I caught the Straight Dope columns in the local paper wherever I lived in the States. The column directed me to the website, and I was curious enough to check out Threadspotting. Funniest stuff I ever read… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-howd-you-get-here/232957.md?page=2)